1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to fixed cutter drill bits used to drill boreholes in subterranean formations. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for modeling the drilling performance of a fixed cutter bit drilling through an earth formation, methods for designing fixed cutter drill bits, and methods for optimizing the drilling performance of a fixed cutter drill bit.
2. Background Art
Fixed cutter bits, such as PDC drill bits, are commonly used in the oil and gas industry to drill well bores. One example of a conventional drilling system for drilling boreholes in subsurface earth formations is shown in FIG. 1. This drilling system includes a drilling rig 10 used to turn a drill string 12 which extends downward into a well bore 14. Connected to the end of the drill string 12 is a fixed cutter drill bit 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, a fixed cutter drill bit 20 typically includes a bit body 22 having an externally threaded connection at one end 24, and a plurality of blades 26 extending from the other end of bit body 22 and forming the cutting surface of the bit 20. A plurality of cutters 28 are attached to each of the blades 26 and extend from the blades to cut through earth formations when the bit 20 is rotated during drilling. The cutters 28 deform the earth formation by scraping and shearing. The cutters 28 may be tungsten carbide inserts, polycrystalline diamond compacts, milled steel teeth, or any other cutting elements of materials hard and strong enough to deform or cut through the formation. Hardfacing (not shown) may also be applied to the cutters 28 and other portions of the bit 20 to reduce wear on the bit 20 and to increase the life of the bit 20 as the bit 20 cuts through earth formations.
Significant expense is involved in the design and manufacture of drill bits and in the drilling of well bores. Having accurate models for predicting and analyzing drilling characteristics of bits can greatly reduce the cost associated with manufacturing drill bits and designing drilling operations because these models can be used to more accurately predict the performance of bits prior to their manufacture and/or use for a particular drilling application. For these reasons, models have been developed and employed for the analysis and design of fixed cutter drill bits.
Two of the most widely used methods for modeling the performance of fixed cutter bits or designing fixed cutter drill bits are disclosed in Sandia Report No. SAN86-1745 by David A. Glowka, printed September 1987 and titled “Development of a Method for Predicting the Performance and Wear of PDC drill Bits” and U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,342 to Bret, et al. and titled “Method for Modeling and Building Drill Bits,” which are both incorporated herein by reference. While these models have been useful in that they provide a means for analyzing the forces acting on the bit, using them may not result in a most accurate reflection of drilling because these models rely on generalized theoretical approximations (typically some equations) of cutter and formation interaction that may not be a good representation of the actual interaction between a particular cutting element and the particular formation to be drilled. Assuming that the same general relationship can be applied to all cutters and all earth formations, even though the constants in the relationship are adjusted, may result the inaccurate prediction of the response of an actual bit drilling in earth formation.
A method is desired for modeling the overall cutting action and drilling performance of a fixed cutter bit that takes into consideration a more accurate reflection of the interaction between a cutter and an earth formation during drilling.